Towards Freedom is the third in a trilogy and begins in 1951, in America, after Elli’s escape from Germany and the horrors of Auschwitz. The fact that this novel is autobiographical makes it all the more gripping to read. The reader is given realistic access to the events of 1939-1945 and beyond, through the eyes of a teenager who belonged to a one of the most discriminated races of all time – the Jews. When she is given her dream job of being a teacher, an inquisitive child asks her why she has a number on her arm, when Elli gives him the truth, the headmaster her employer, tells her she should have lied and said it was her phone number. Elli is understandably outraged and hurt.

“In my pain and bitterness I wonder, do all Americans, Jews and Gentiles who were untouched by our tragedy and don’t even want to hear about it, feel like him? Do they also prefer to believe that the number tattooed on my arm is Auschwitz is nothing but a harmless New York telephone number? Do they also prefer to place me, and all of us with numbers tattooed on our arms beyond the pale of their world?”

Through the warm and accessible voice of Elli, the reader learns in retrospect about the concentration camp and how, despite it being 1951 and America - the land of opportunity, Elli is haunted by her experiences in the appalling prison of Auschwitz. This experience effects every moment of life, every decision she makes, every event she encounters is marred and marked by her incarceration and maltreatment. Although she is living in the new world it would be a miracle if she and others like her could escape truly and completely from the old world, the world she endeavours to leave behind.

“Thank God I can breathe now. There’s air out here unlike in the crowded wagon. Wagon? It’s a subway car, not a wagon! Elli, pull yourself together, you’re not there. You’d here, in America, in the subway, not in the crowded cattle wagon destined for Auschwitz, for Plaszow…for Dachau…The nightmare is over…you’re not locked in against your will…you can get out…”

Fiction allows Livia Britton-Jackson the opportunity to narrate her journey from Auschwitz to the New World of America, documenting and all the possibilities living in America offered refugees, thus creating the melting pot of custom and culture that it is today.

2008-01-08